The Irish stock market closed nearly 25 points lower, dragged down by weakness in overseas markets following weak data and earnings news from the US.

Poor figures from household names like Dell, Ford and Gap depressed sentiment on Wall Street and had a knock-on impact on European markets, including Dublin.

However, dealers said trading was light with a distinctly summer feel to it.

The two leading financial stocks, AIB and Bank of Ireland, lost ground, the former closing 25 cents lower at €12.25, while the latter shed 9 cents to €10.45.

However, CRH ignored the general weakness to gain 12 cents to €20.00, helped by good US housing starts data, while Ryanair gained 11 cents to €11.01.

Dealers said there was some sign of a move back into food stocks such as Fyffes, which gained 4 cents to €1.30.

Technology stocks, however, took another pasting as the Nasdaq opened 1.8 per cent lower.

In Dublin, Iona fell sharply, losing €3.45 or 19 per cent of its value to €14.55. Datalex slipped by 10 cents to €0.85 but telephone directory services firm Conduit gained 85 cents, or 16.5 per cent, to €6.00.

In Britain, the FTSE closed at its lowest level in three weeks as Vodafone fell to near three-year lows, slipping 2.7 per cent to 127.5 pence sterling. By contrast, Eircom held steady at €1.34. "It's perceived to be at end-game now," one trader said.